


Things that go bump at a reunion

by DarlingHilson (Mycroffed)



Series: Dead Poets Reunion [2]
Category: Dead Poets Society (1989), House M.D.
Genre: Crossover, M/M, Someone's back to life, reunion of the Dead Poets Society, surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 14:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3613248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mycroffed/pseuds/DarlingHilson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Todd discovered that Neil was still alive in Secrets revealed, he decided it was time for a reunion of the Dead Poets</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things that go bump at a reunion

_To: jewilson@ppthospital.com, stevenmeeks@hotmail.com, koverstreet@hotmail.com, nuwanda@hotmail.com, gerardpitts@hotmail.com_  
From: andersontodd@hotmail.com  
Subject: reunion maybe?

_Dear Dead Poets,_

_Thirty years have gone past since we last saw all of us together. Now I was wondering - since I recently had a close call with death - if I could see all my high school friends again. We could set on a date - anytime goes for me - and I could invite you all at my place in Prinston Plainstboro. We’ll have an evening of fun, drinking, smoking and reading poetry._

_I look forward to seeing you all again and hope sincerely that you all still have the same email addresses._

_Yours truly,_

_Todd Anderson._

_*_

_To: andersontodd@hotmail.com, stevenmeeks@hotmail.com, koverstreet@hotmail.com, nuwanda@hotmail.com, gerardpitts@hotmail.com_  
From: jewilson@ppthospital.com  
Subject: Re: reunion maybe? 

_Dear Dead Poets,_

_Don’t mind Todd, he’s being overdramatic. Yes, he has been in the hospital, but he didn’t nearly die, as he claimed in his mail. He’s just being a drama queen, something which was my role, if I remember correctly. Something else he has lied about is the owner of the location where everything would take place. It’s mine._

_As for the date, sometime around Easter suits me best._

_I look forward to seeing you all as well, preferable outside of a hospital environement - right, Todd?_

_Yours truly,_

_James Wilson_

_*_

_To: jewilson@ppthospital.com, koversteeet@hotmail.com, andersontodd@hotmail.com, stevenmeeks@hotmail.com, gerardpitts@hotmail.com_  
From: nuwanda@hotmail.com  
Subject: Re: reunion maybe?

_Dear Dead Poets and James Wilson,_

_Who the hell are you, mate? I have never heard your name before in my entire life so I have no idea why you’re included in this conversation. Todd, why did you include this nutter? I don’t need a new member of the group if you might have recruited one over the years._

_Easter is fine with me as well, but James Wilson, don’t you dare show up._

_Yours truly,_

_Charlie Dalton_

_*_

_To: nuwanda@hotmail.com, jewilson@hotmail.com, koverstreet@hotmail.com, stevenmeeks@hotmail.com, gerardpitts@hotmail.com_  
From: andersontodd@hotmail.com  
Subject: Re: reunion maybe?

_Dear Dead Poets,_

_Jezus, Charlie, calm down. I wouldn’t add someone you didn’t know! Let him come, let James Wilson come and you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise. You’ll like it a lot._

_So Easter? Suits me. I’ll make a poll to vote for which day exactly._

_Yours truly,_

_Todd Anderson_

_*_

_To: andersontodd@hotmail.com, nuwanda@hotmail.com, jewilson@ppthospital.com, stevenmeeks@hotmail.com, gerardpitts@hotmail.com_  
From: koverstreet@hotmail.com  
Subject: Re: reunion maybe?

_Dear Dead Poets,_

_I’ll have to check with the mrs, but the date that has the most votes at the moment - Easter Monday - suits me perfectly. But I have a question for every single one of you. How are you?_

_Yes, that’s right. I want to know how my friends are. And James, I think I know who you are - or used to be at least._

_Anyway, see you Easter Monday!_

_Yours truly,_

_Knox Overstreet_

_*_

_To: andersontodd@hotmail.com, nuwanda@hotmail.com, koverstreet@hotmail.com, stevenmeeks@hotmail.com, gerardpitts@hotmail.com_  
From: jewilson@ppthospital.com  
Subject: Re: reunion maybe?

_Dear Dead Poets,_

_So finally someone has figured it out. Knox, feel free to share it with the group. The secret of who I really am. I can also not help but notice that nobody has added Cameron. What happened to him?_

_The date suits me perfectly - it’s one of my rare days off - so I’ll see you all in a couple of days._

_Yours truly,_

_James Wilson_

*

As Easter Monday approached, Wilson got more and more nervous. He had met up with Todd regularly the last couple of weeks - almost weekly even. He had enjoyed talking to the man, getting to know him again. He should have asked for a reunion ages ago. And yet, the nervousness didn’t go away. He had seen Todd’s initial reaction, what if the others reacted the same? What if they hated him for lying and never coming back?

Greg was there, he helped him, talked to him, but it didn’t really seemed to work or help him calm down. House had also helped him look for auditions, like the precious little man he was. He had gotten the part of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, and every time he came back from a rehearsal, he was positively beaming with happiness. It didn’t help that Greg wanted to get him into his bed every time he came home like that. The acting had positively made him much happier in general as well - he was finally able to do what he loved and his boyfriend/partner/lover even supported him!

The day itself, Wilson got dressed in his usual suit with tie, like he was going to work. House didn’t like it, he prefered the sweat pants wearing, mussed hair Wilson. It told him that Wilson cared enough about him so that he didn’t care about his looks. But not this day. This day, he was nervous, so he tried to look perfect.

Around lunchtime, Todd arrived. Wilson greeted him amicially, like they had been friends all their life. House hovered a bit uncomfortable in the background, but he was also greeted by Todd. They ate the lunch Wilson had prepared with House’s help. James had been scared that it would be awkward, since his first boy crush had been his roommate, but it was the opposite, really. He hadn’t told anyone about his feelings - not back then and he wasn’t going to say anything now.

A few hours later, the rest slowly started to arrive. Wilson made sure he was in his bedroom until they were all here while Todd opened the door. Greg was helping serving the drinks and it happened every single time that the person who had come in thought he was Wilson. And every time, he replied with that same smirk on his face that he wasn’t, that Wilson would arrive later. About half an hour after the first guest - Knox Overstreet - had arrived, everyone had found their way to the meeting spot.

When the meeting was about to start, a brief knock on Wilson’s door made him come out with a copy of Five Centuries of Verse. He had written down the typical opening for a meeting. While he walked to the group, he spoke the lines he hadn’t said in thirty years.

"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow out of life. To put to rout all that was not life, and not, when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived."

Everybody looked up as they heard his voice - the one they had thought they’d never hear again. After a brief glance at Todd and seeing his smug expression on his face, Charlie muttered a surprised “Neil?”, his eyes scanning the room, looking for the owner of the voice.

It was that moment that Wilson showed himself to everyone. He smiled softly, insecure, nervous, scared. He wanted everybody to accept his decisions, but he knew that they wouldn’t - not immediately at least.

Knox smirked as soon as he saw the oncologist, realizing he had been right about the stranger’s identity. He got on his feet, grabbed the man’s hand and said with a big smile on his face: “Welcome back, Neil.”

Wilson gasped surprised before a wide genuine smile spread over his face. “Thank you, Knox.”

He nodded before he sat down again, followed almost immediately by Wilson/Neil. All the others couldn’t help but stare at the oncologist. They were still in shock, not knowing how it was possible that their friend, who had committed suicide, was now sitting amongst them again.

"Before you ask," James/Neil began. "I am Neil Perry, I am still alive, I… I did try to kill myself back then, but I failed. My father sent me to military school, to med school and eventually I ended up here with my boyfriend, Gregory House." He gestured at the diagnostician. "And I saw Todd again about a week before the first mail." He took a deep breath. "Anyone any questions? Otherwise I declare this meeting opened."

"Neil, you bastard." Charlie shook his head. "Thirty years. Thirty years!"

"I know, Charlie." Neil looked down, he had felt terrible the first few weeks of his recovery. He couldn’t even remember the number of times he had stolen some clothes to try and make it back to Welton. He knew he belonged there - he had always belonged there in some twitsed sort of way - but he knew perfectly well that those days were over now. Now it was time to be the responsible James Wilson the world seemed to need. Sometimes he detested James Wilson, detested the man carved to be a doormat to others. He had developed like this to keep his father happy, it had been the only way. Subconsciously, Neil moved one of his hands to his lower arm, were his scars from cutting himself were hiding. "And I’m so sorry."

Sorry was all he could say. He couldn’t put into words what he wanted to say - needed to explain. He felt so lost in time and space, so ultimately abandoned that he just wanted to yawp so that the universe would become aware of his presence again. He wanted to be Neil again, the careless, free, young spirit, filled with hopes and dreams, convinced that the world would always turn out alright. Now he was older - and wiser? - and he knew that this wasn’t the case. Life was unfair and unless you did something about it, you were doomed to be used as a door mat for the rest of your life.

House must’ve picked up on his mood because suddenly the diagnostician was next to him, his hand on top of his own. He smiled weakly at his lover before he turned back to his group of friends. They all smiled warmly at him, like they were glad he was back. This wasn’t right, he thought. There should he a fight in there somewhere. Not that he wanted to fight - god he was overanalyzing everything again - but this… This silence was not what he wanted either.

When he opened his mouth again to ask if that was really all they were going to say about it, Charlie got on his feet and pulled Neil close for a big, tight hug. The others quickly joined making it an awkward tangle of limbs. And right before they all let go, they whispered, one by one, “we’ve missed you.”

When Neil pulled back again, his quickly wiped his tears out of the corner of his eyes. He wasn’t crying, he wasn’t moved by those three words. He took a deep breath before he smiled fakely - he only hoped it would develop into a genuine smile later on - House would be the only one to notice anyway. He was still sitting down on the sofa between Knox and Todd, looking at the other three in front of him. House had disappeared into the corner of the room again, probably playing with one of his toys somewhere.

"So are we going to start reading poetry or what?" Gerard asked carefully, not wanting to shatter the silence that had fallen around the men.

Neil opened the book and nodded. “Of course we are.” He took a deep breath and then turned to a specific page - he had thought about this, he wanted to read one of his favorite poems - and started reading.

"We are not that strength which in the days of old moved heaven and earth. That which we are, we are; one equal temper of heroic heart, made weak by time and fate, but strong in will. To strive, to seek to find and not to yield."

He looked down at the book. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine them being back in the cave, that very first day, shivering with excitement, with the thrill of the possibility of being caught. House had asked him about this, the last couple of days, about how it had felt to break the rules - even though the man knew perfectly fine - but he had no words to explain it. All he knew was that it plastered a smile on his face, one that wouldn’t go away till hours later. How could someone possibly explain how it felt to be young and reckless? Because everyone must’ve felt it, even if it was only once.

There was a silence, but it was a comfortable one and nobody seemed eager to break it. Neil glanced over at Todd, a soft smile around his lips, a look of adoration on his face. The strong feelings he had had for the boy had returned with their strength doubled over the last few weeks. He had been scared for this - he had sort of known it though, somehow - and now he didn’t know what to do anymore. He loved House, yes, with his entire heart, but that didn’t seem to stop the hormones from coursing through his body.

Eventually, Meeks broke the silence, asking for the book. From then, the ‘meeting’ got on pretty well and any awkwardness that had been there in the beginning had completely dissolved. They got around to talking about their jobs, Neil talked about his life after that one night, the others about the other years at Welton. Stories of sympathy were exchanged, sings of friendship too. James Wilson completely disappeared in those few hours with his old friends. This was Neil Perry territory. The oncologist had smiled more in the last few hours than he had the entire last month. He shook his head.

When it was nearing dinnertime and everybody wanted to go back home that Neil told his friends that he was acting again. Todd of course, didn’t react but all the others were pleasantly surprised.

"Neil, that’s great!" Charlie had exclaimed while he had patted the man’s shoulder.

Meeks had wholeheartedly agreed with that and smiled.

"Thanks Charlie, Meeks." Neil nodded, a wide grin spread on his face.

"Dammit Neil, it’s Nuwanda." Charlie grinned widely. He didn’t really mean it - Nuwanda had died with Neil that first time - but he said it just to say it again, to feel good and young. It earned him a grin from every member.

Everybody patted Charlie’s - Nuwanda’s - shoulder as they walked to get their jackets and walk to the door. They all promised that they would see each other again, preferably sometime soon. House and Neil helped everyone get their belongings and walked with them to the door. Neil broke the happy chatter of his friends to ask a question that he would regret later.

"So what happened to Cameron?"

Everybody stopped chattering and looked at Neil.

"He betrayed Keating in the end. He said that we were the victims and that this was all the teacher’s fault instead of our own or yours." Pitts shrugged.

Neil immediately wished he hadn’t asked this question, because everyone’s eyes was now filled with anger and annoyance at the memory of that last moment, of the last meeting in the attic. The oncologist auickly apologized for asking and looked down. Everybody grabbed their coats just a bit faster than before and instead of a last hug, only handshakes were exchanged before everyone was gone except Todd. House apologized himself and went to the living room to do things he thought necessairy, leaving Neil alone with Todd.

His exroommate smiled warmly at him. “So, Neil… How are you and House doing?”

"Ah, we - er - we are doing just fine I suppose." His feelings bubbled to the surface and urged him to kiss the man. He desperately tried to stop himself, but his body seemed to act on its own. He leaned closer, cupped Todd’s cheek and brushed his lips against the man’s.

Todd kissed back hesitantly, knowing perfectly well that Neil’s lover was only rooms away from the two of them. Even though he knew that, he pulled the doctor closer to him and deepened the kiss. He softly licked the man’s lips until he opened his mouth and he could slide his tongue inside. A soft moan escaped the doctor as he closed his eyes.

It was briefly after the moan that Neil pulled back. “I’m sorry, I… I should’ve done that when I was still alive. We can’t… I mean, I’ve got House, you probably have someone of your own. I’ve had my chance and ruined it.”

Todd nodded slightly, looking down at the ground. “I should go. I’ll see you again later, I suppose.”

Neil smiled weakly and gave in. He had probably ruined everything. He watched as Todd put on his coat, shook his hand and then leave. Neil rubbed his temples, annoyed with himself and the world - sort of. He walked back to the lounge, where House was waiting for him, his arms crossed, his eyebrow raised and a very cross look on his face. He would have to get through this - and whichever punishment House would come up with this time.

"You kissed him." House stated. "You kissed Todd Anderson, Wilson."

Neil Perry immediately disappeared again and left the situation for James Wilson to handle. “House… I’m really sorry, love. I couldn’t stop myself. I-I know that’s a lame excuse - an extremely lame one - but please… It didn’t mean anything, just something from my past, something I simply had to do!”

It was only after he had uttered his explanation and apologies that he noticed House was wearing his leather jacket and had his backpack slung over his shoulder. His eyes widened as he realized that House was going to leave him and return back home.

"Please don’t go, please don’t leave me… I love you, House - Greg. I can’t lose you too."

House didn’t say anything when he limped past the oncologist towards the door. He opened it and limped to his bike, followed by a distressed Wilson, who kept apologizing and asking not to leave. He got on his bike, started its engines and turned it around, ready to leave.

"You cannot lose me, _Jimmy_ , because you have already lost me." He snarled and before Wilson could say anything else or even worse, start crying, he drove off to his own place, leaving the oncologist all alone on the porch with a broken heart and tears running down his cheeks.

 

**Author's Note:**

> There will be a last part in this series and I already have an idea of how it's going to work out, but it will take some time for me to write it. I hope you liked it and thank you for reading, kudo'ing and commenting!


End file.
